Waimate Shears: Troy Pyper wins NZ Winter Comb open title

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Gun Southland and North Canterbury shearer Troy Pyper won his second New Zealand Winter Comb open title at the Waimate Shears today.

Pyper had a short but anxious wait before hearing the result, after he shore the 10 sheep in 19min 13.78sec, to finish first off the board in the six-man-final.

Invercargill's Nathan Stratford tailed the field in 21min 19.11sec but had the best quality, both on the shearing board and in the counting-out pens.

However, he was unable to completely erode a time-points deficit of almost 6.3pts and Pyper won by 1.0665pts.

Third-place went to record-breaking shearer Stacey Te Huia, of Alexandra.

Pyper was "very careful this time," having lost heavily after making one of the unkindest cuts of all at the New Zealand Merino Championship final in Alexandra last Saturday.

"No mistakes this time," he said.

Meanwhile, there was a big upset in the senior final, with winner Russell Ratima, from Aria in the central North Island, and runner-up Alex Clapham, from Yorkshire, England, having almost no competition history in New Zealand between them.

Ratima had failed to make it past the senior heats in Alexandra last weekend but won today by a wide margin of more than 12pts.

He and Clapham graduated from the bottom half of the 12 semi-final qualifiers at Waimate and were the last two into the six-man final, amid the exit of Alexandra winner Scott Cameron, who had been the top qualifier in the heats.

It was in the final that Ratima showed dramatic signs of his experience in West Australia, claiming best board and pen points, after finishing second in the race, albeit a minute after first-man-off, Taumarunui shearer Hohepa Te Rata Taituha, who shore the five sheep in 11min 55.49sec.

There were 40 shearers in the open event and 13 seniors.

The rest of the day was for woolhandling in the open, senior and junior grades, with the Spring Shears crossbred long wool shearing championships taking place tomorrow.

Results from the New Zealand Winter Comb Shearing Championships on the first day of the Waimate Shears being held on October 8-9:

Open final (10 sheep): Troy Pyper (Cheviot) 19min 13.78sec, 75.589pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 21min 19.11sec, 76.6555pts, 2; Stacey Te Huia (Alexandra) 19min 42sec, 80.5pts, 3; Brett Roberts (Mataura) 20min 55.34sec, 85.867pts, 4; Jocky O'Neill (Alexandra) 21min 21.39sec, 91.7695pts, 5; Ant Frew (Pleasant Point) 21min 17.87sec, 97.0935pts, 6.

Senior final (5 sheep): Russell Ratima (Aria) 12min 54.21sec, 67.1105pts, 1; Alex Clapham (Yorkshire, England) 15min 15.77sec, 79.7885pts, 2; Hohepa Te Rata-Taituha (Taumarunui) 11min 55.49sec, 85.5745pts, 3; Pagan Karauria (Alexandra) 16min 34.57sec, 87.9285pts, 4; Taare Edwards (Ashburton) 14min 26.46sec, 90.323pts, 5; Tyson Crown (Mataura) 15min 22.31sec, 107.3155pts, 6.